Joby Advances to Testing with Production Prototype Air Taxi

Until now, the manufacturer had only performed flight testing with less-developed, preproduction prototypes.

Friday, May 03, 2024 at 04:13 PM ET

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Joby’s two preproduction prototype air taxis together have flown more than 33,000 miles over the course of more than 1,500 test flights, the company says. [Courtesy: Joby Aviation]

Key Takeaways:

Joby Aviation is moving into a critical phase of flight testing using its newly rolled out production prototype eVTOL aircraft, directly preceding "for-credit evaluations" with the FAA.
This new testing is a vital step towards achieving FAA type certification, which is essential for Joby to launch commercial urban air mobility (UAM) services by 2025 in partnership with Delta Air Lines.
The U.S. Air Force is already operating Joby's first production prototype for missions and will soon receive the second, demonstrating early operational use.
Joby's preproduction aircraft successfully completed extensive testing, demonstrating strong performance and validating the design's range, speed, and acoustic footprint.

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After announcing a manufacturing expansion earlier this week, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation is preparing for a critical step in type certification with the FAA.

The company on Thursday said it is moving to the next phase of flight testing using production prototype aircraft, the first of which came off its pilot production line at Marina Municipal Airport (KOAR) in California in June. The company on Monday rolled out a second production prototype. Until now, Joby had only flown tests using two preproduction air taxi prototypes.